Dame Solange Kirin
Description Mortal Seeming: A delicate woman standing a mere five foot four moves with an air of calm confidence, her dainty feet placed with careful precision. From the brilliant shine of her bluish-violet eyes- long and slightly tip-tilted- one would imagine that she has a quiet secret that brings her great delight. Framed by thick platinum blonde lashes, those eyes regard the world with an expression of muted expectation. With a precisely formed face, the pale ivory flesh lifted by thin, angular bones, and long platinum blonde hair, she is exotic amongst the rounder and darker toned Italians. Of slender shape and lithe limb, she makes little noise and takes up very little room when she chooses to. Although her shoulders and hips are broad for excellent posture and a steady stance, the woman herself is slim, with the gently rounded curves of a bud vase. For such a strangely beautiful woman, she dresses conservatively- tones of grey, silver and black adorn her, occasionally touched with a rich violet. Leather and sturdy wool form her standard garb, but elegant touches of velvet and silk come when the occasion calls for it. Fae Seeming: In a flow of molten, iridescent silver locks, she turns on the ball of her tiny foot, brilliant violet eyes ablaze and the Dreaming holds its' breath. The delicate beauty flares to life when the vibrant soul within shines through, lighting her up into a gleaming beacon. With the silvery perfection of her kith fired to wild proportions by the lessons of her life, the Unicorn fits quite well with the expectations of dreams of beauty. Skin of a silvery ivory covers her diminutive structure, flushed to a morning rose at cheek and lip. From the base of her hairline, forming two bands down her slender back are silver flecks, tracing the half-inch ridges that mark where the Dreaming demanded payment for a broken oath. Freckling her shoulders and slim neck, the sparkling marks blend into her flowing hair, pulling the eye up to her face. In that face, it is the eyes that hold attention, demand respect and offer warmth. Long, wide eyes tilt slightly at the outer corners, framed by sparkling lashes that catch the light, reflecting it into the rich, violet irises. In her eyes is the gentle smile offered to those who seek shelter. In her eyes is evident the ferocity of a warrior when those under her protection are threatened. Slimly muscled, she moves lightly, surefooted and swift no matter where she chooses to wander. With the confidence of her kith, tempered by the wisdom of her path and years of blade mastery, her deadly arts are often overlooked until it is too late. Long-fingered hands show the burden of the fae Arts: numerous white scars mar her fingertips and palm to mark the blood prices paid to draw the Dreaming into the Waking World. Garb of polished moonlight, spider's web and glossy night hides form her voile, following the Unicorn house colours of grey, silver, white and black. The occasional touch of violet adorns her- even the calm-tempered and wise sidhe is not above a bit of vanity- and when a proper event demands she shine, the Unicorn maiden shines. Personality The Unicorn's devotion to duty was honed early on in her existance, and an oath once came second to nothing in her estimation of what was to be valued. With all the frightening intensity of her kith, Solange has found that one's beloved takes precedence over all oaths save one- the single oath she has not yet dared offer. Her outlook is quite simple: threaten her beloved and die, accept him as inviolate and be welcome. Having never before experienced love for a mortal, much less love on such a profound level, Solange has no idea how to balance her feelings. She does, however, hold to her duties as long as they don't interfere with the time she shares with her beloved "tiger eyes." Having raised the redcap Mali for well over two hundred years, she trusts that her adopted son has the wisdom to make his own way in the Waking and Dreaming worlds, even if she does keep a careful eye on who he brings into the freehold. Away from Mauricio Covertero, the sidhe's emotions balance back into the gentle kindness that she offers to the world at large. Wise enough to see the value of an offered hand, the Unicorn gives that hand to any she believes need her aid. With centuries of experience behind her, Solange tends to take the role of a motherly caregiver, providing advice and protection to those who seek it out. Centuries as a Seelie knight- having disavowed all connections to the Unseelie court- left Solange highly unbalanced in her approach to the world. Her obsession with Mauricio- borne from a wildly inequal love and the overpowering emotions of her kith- has only increased since she broke her oath and switched to the Unseelie court. As her mind becomes increasingly chaotic, the Unicorn remains unaware of the Shadow Court's keen observation of her. A fallen knight, complete with broken oaths and a devastating obsession, could be quite the prize for them. Approached, Solange is polite and quietly friendly, with a calm smile on her lovely lips. While she is aware of the dangers of Banality, she has walked amongst the Prodigals and commoners long enough to avoid the worst pitfalls, and the Unicorn will not withhold conversation from a vampire or mage on principle alone. Everyone is taken as they present themselves, and she makes little in the way of judgement regarding a person's actions. Unless, of course, those actions threaten her beloved tiger eyes... Pre-Game History To ask a sidhe what their childhood was like is to ask a vampire what their sire's birth year held in daily wonders. There is no simple answer, and if Solange Kirin ni Scathach was asked, she would find herself at a loss. Indeed, a childhood never truly occurred. While she was young at one time, Solange- then called Solianga- first walked the earth before the Shattering occurred. Hazily, she can even recall rebuilding after the dreaded Tessarakonta. The curse of the Shattering, however, is that even the long-minded Unicorn cannot recall Arcadia. During this youthful time, Solianga trained under a mistress of the fae Arts and whiled away her eternal days in magical study and exploration of the Dreaming that formed the fae's home. The Waking World was an adventure, and one that she faced gladly, but Solianga was always delighted to return home to take up her mantle in Arcadia's halls once more. Prior to her Saining, Solianga was adopted by the ruling queen of the Kingdom of the Silver Woods. It was expected that the princess would follow in her adoptive mother's ways and dedicate herself to guarding the Milderwood that imprisoned the dreaded White Court of the defeated Fomorians. Indeed, Solianga directed much of her study to such an end, and mastered the Art of DreamCraft not long before her Fior Righ. The house Eiluned- the house of her adoptive mother- had prepared to welcome the young sidhe into its' ranks, and a rising Gwydion knight watched the learning sorceress with great interest. His name she remembers well and never speaks, even in her memory, but it was this particular Gwydion knight who began courting Solianga prior to her Saining. The game of courtly love had been created by the sidhe, and the Gwydion knight demonstrated his expertise in his courting of the houseless princess. Eager to lay claim before she was taken to the Eiluned libraries to bury herself in study until she met their exacting standards, he rushed courtship strenuously, doing all he could to sweep Solianga off of her feet. Their betrothal was publicly announced the day before her Saining. That day she recalls with the aching clarity any sidhe feels, being cursed to live the past, present and future all at once. The shield that should have displayed the black and silver crescent of Eiluned had instead showed the proud crest of house Scathach. Rare, but not unheard of, was the chance to take a house against the Saining's declaration, and Solianga's adoptive mother used all of her queencraft to conceal her anger when the young sidhe accepted the mantle of house Scathach. While not as secretive as the Eiluned, the Scathach were, in fact, their only rivals in the use of the fae Arts, and Solianga's Fior Righ- hours of ritual combat, recitations of noble lineage and ancient laws, demonstrations of the magical Arts- secured her position in the Unicorn house. There, she felt truly at home, and it was puzzling to her that her betrothed should dislike her house so greatly. Puzzling, but she put it aside as his ascention in rank through deed assured there would be no trouble to their marriage, and his joining her in ruling the Kingdom of the Silver Woods. With their joint guardianship, the White Court would never awaken, would never escape the Milderwood to threaten the Dreaming again. Ask how much time passed, and there is no definitive way to answer. As Solianga grew in wisdom, learned the finer arts and ascended in the house Scathach, the Waking World began to change. Her initiation to the Scathach rank of knight gave her more pride than her adopted mother's gift of royalty. The Gwydion- impatient with her preoccupation with the trappings of her house- distracted himself with dalliances amongst the ladies of her adopted mother's court, and found that Solianga noticed nothing. The young Unicorn, secure in their vows of betrothal, believed him to be as chaste as she, and saw none of the wandering eyes or snickers when she greeted him warmly in the court halls. Even as she learned the Art of Time, Solianga noticed the changes in the Waking World, and finally turned her attention to the unrest that was stirring the nobles into dissention. The Waking World was changing, drawing away from the Dreaming, and the chill touch of Banality was making itself felt for the first time. Terrified of the threat to their immortality, the sidhe began drawing away in groups, retreating to the safety of Arcadia. The task of the Scathach was to provide guardianship to the Waking World, standing with the house Beaumayn against the forces of Nightmare to protect the mortals who breathed the Glamour so necessary to their lives. This task weighed heavily on Solianga's heart, and for the first time, she saw Arcadia as a prison instead of a haven. What would become of the commoners without the nobility to fulfill their obligations to them? Who would defend the mortals against the powers of Nightmare? And worst of all, what would stop the Fomorians from weakening their chains and emerging from their prisons? Her decision made, the Unicorn went to her Gwydion betrothed after certain preparations, and offered him a place at her side. Not, as he had wished, as ruler of the Kingdom of Silver Woods, but as joint guardian of the Silver Glade and the Unicorn's Haven freehold she had established in the Near Dreaming. The sidhe were scattering to Arcadia, sealing the Silver Path behind them, and leaving the commoners stranded in the Waking World. Solianga explained to her betrothed that they could provide a haven for the terrified commoners and fulfill their duties of noblisse oblige. His response astonished her. The Gwydion recoiled from the thought of giving up Arcadia for a rural freehold, for taking a minor hold instead of the kingship he had been promised. Disgusted, he accused her of abandoning him, abandoning her adopted mother and her very kith all for the sake of finding her own power. With his words, he pulled aside the veil of belief that she had maintained in him, and Solianga stepped away. The young Unicorn said nothing as she walked away, and the trod closed behind her forever. Alone in the Near Dreaming, faced with the icy touch of Banality, she observed the commoners as they found methods of survival. Some locked themselves away in freeholds, hiding in the scraps of Dreaming left when the Shattering occurred. Others discovered an ancient ritual and twisted it cleverly, establishing the Changeling Way. Watching alone, the Unicorn made no attempt to join the commoners she guarded vigilantly from the other side of the Mists, but simply took note, aware that the day would come when she too would have to don mortal flesh. Time, the bane of the sidhe, passed unbidden, and when Solianga stepped from the Dreaming and found the form of a young woman to occupy, she left behind the name she had once answered to. Solange Kirin reestablished her claim to her glade and hold, releasing the True Name to the Mists. As Solange, she continued her quiet guardianship. Revolted by her Gwydion betrothed's Unseelie actions, she forsook the balance practiced by the Scathach and vowed that she would never turn from the Seelie Court. The Dreaming heard and took note. A misstep along the Silver Path took her to a cursed island, and for seventy years, she endured the icy northern winds on the isle of Romsa. Hiding from the dark creatures that lurked there, she discovered a newly Chrysalized redcap childling. As the only noble on the isle, Solange took the young Mali under her protection, and the years on the isle were spent in tutelage. The first commoner to bear the coat of arms of the Unicorn house, and possibly the first redcap to be ennobled since the Shattering, Mali was her adored son, and the first connection she had made since leaving the promise of Arcadia. Years slid past unmarked, and when the sidhe discovered the island's curse had faltered, she escaped into the Dreaming, taking Mali with her. More lessons followed as she showed him how to walk amongst the mortals without alerting them, how to manipulate the fae Arts and the necessary lessons of self-control. As the redcap reached his wilder years, the sidhe- now well into her own grumphood- looked on his wild oats with amused tolerance. The world had changed yet again, and a new age was upon the Waking World. Art, music and imagination had sparked out of the Dark Ages, and no better place for a young redcap to run wild could be found than La Serenissima. As the glade was bound to her, so did the Dreaming guide her to the trods in the borders of the City of Masks, and Solange began the arduous task of searching for other fae to take under her wing. Mali, given his freedom as a wilder should, enjoyed the "finer" offerings of the city as Solange kept vigil for any sign that her lifelong task had faltered. The Fomorians must sleep, and the chains on the Milderwood kept tightly wound. Yearly, the rite was performed. Yearly, the Unicorn watched. There was time, however, to explore the city for herself, and a chance meeting in a whimsical tea house took the sidhe's path on a slant she had never expected. A hooded man who told Glamourous tales and reserved both eyes and name enchanted her with his presence, and when he consented to show his eyes at last, Solange was lost in their tiger-shaded depths. The greatest strength and most potent weakness of the sidhe kith had always been romantic love, and for the first time since her betrothed, the Unicorn's heart beat swiftly, flooding her veins with wildfire. The knight was ruthless in her courtship, and while it cost her broken oaths- one of which stripped away the white-feathered wings that had once borne her aloft on Dreaming winds- and the cold weight of Banality, all was forgotten each time she looked into those tiger eyes. A single promise spoken to prevent an ancient foe from harming the tiger-eyed mortal drew her into the Unseelie Court, and as focused as she is on the guardianship of her glade and the protection of her beloved and her son, the Unicorn has no concept of how swiftly the Shadow Court rises to draw her into their ranks. Pertinent Connections * Mauricio Covertero -a mortal man known only as "tiger eyes" to the sidhe, Mauricio captured her attention instantly and her heart within days. Having spurred her to greater heights of what could be considered insanity, this mortal is now Enchanted and held under the guardianship of the Lady of the Silver Glade. His actions give him the appearance of greatly enjoying her company- not to mention the interesting perks that such attention comes with- but to detached observers, there's a strange edge in his actions. Selfish motivations have been subtly evident; it is only a matter of time until this mortal's true feelings come to light. * Mali'boo'ga -a young redcap- still in his early wilder years thanks to the strange effects of time spent in the Dreaming- who was found by the Unicorn shortly after his Chrysalis. Raised by the traditions of house Scathach, Mali was moulded to be the perfect knight. How well he held to those traditions would surprise many- despite his "common" status, he has been awarded the title of "Sir" by his patron, the Dame Solange, and bears the coat of arms of the Unicorn house proudly. A courtesan here and there is only to be expected of a strapping young man anyway. Game History Highlights * Emerged from the Dreaming in Port Skjold * Explored the island of Port Skjold with her ward * Introduced Adrianna de'Felice and Vidorin to the Dreaming * Escaped the island of Port Skjold when the enchantment over the island was broken * Reemerged from the Dreaming over two hundred years later in Venice, Italy * Established the Unicorn's Haven in the Dreaming of La Serenissima * Met Mauricio Covertero in the Sakura Tea House * Learned of a plot to gain access to artifacts held by the Wanderer- a legendary man cursed to search out items of power throughout eternity * Aided in the release of the Wanderer from the hands of Dona Elena Atima * Broke her centuries-old oath to remain Seelie to protect Mauricio Covertero from the Duke of the Frozen North, resulting in the loss of her wings * Broke her oath to remain celibate until marriage * Learned of dangerous Nightmare incursions into her glade * Discovered wraith unrest seeping through the city of Venice * Put in motion the recreation of her freehold, the Unicorn's Haven, to honour her beloved Category:Elsewhere